Preparing Inclusive Educators

Abstract

We heartily thank the editors of the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) for publishing a special issue of the journal on a most significant educator preparation matter: the need to prepare teachers skilled in supporting and educating the diverse individuals enrolled in America's schools. The rapid rise in the ethnic and diversity of the PreK-12 school population, as well as in the number of students with disabilities who spend most of their time in general classrooms, compels us all to reconsider how their teachers are prepared. We particularly appreciate the depth of knowledge and range of perspectives offered by the articles' contributors and their frank, tell-it-like-it-is presentation style. We urge readers to engage with the ideas presented in the articles, as each adds unique insights to understanding the complexity of preparing educators for the multifaceted diversity of today's PreK-12 students. Readers will appreciate how the complex intersections of race, social class, gender, culture, and disability are conceptualized and addressed through varying educational philosophies and strategies for preparing educators to teach such diverse students. As the contributors to this volume remind us, navigating these complexities has been fraught with decades-old tensions, enduring fissures, and cultural misunderstandings. But in today's world, teacher educators must not be hindered by these distractions. More than 90% of teachers in a recent major survey (MetLife, 2011) said supporting diverse learners with the highest needs should be a priority, and nearly 60% said it should be among the highest priorities. Preparing teachers who can successfully support the learning of every student requires that teacher educators remain open to new ideas and continue to develop preparation programs that respond to the nation's diverse learning communities. American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) is strongly committed to assuring that its members are equipped to reach this goal. The thoughtful articles and recommendations made by the contributors to this special issue will be invaluable to AACTE's member institutions and leadership in setting policies and future direction for the Association. We must work together to advocate for appropriate legislative, regulatory, judicial, and fiscal supports to align with our efforts. Each of the contributors to this issue has offered insights to progress, limitations, and future challenges. Collectively, they have framed a vision of teaching that is inclusive--a vision that incorporates the responsibility for the learning of all students within the role of the general education teacher in collaboration with specialists. The articles speak to this vision as a way of fulfilling an ethical obligation to serve all learners. Specific examples of this approach are offered in Florian's article on Scotland's Inclusive Practice Project and in Pugach and Blanton's article discussing collaborative, dual-certification programs. Suggestions to Colleges of Education Teacher educators will find much to consider in this special issue. Irvine urges that culturally responsive pedagogy be considered foundational to the curriculum for all educators-which would help assure the common ground called for by Cochran-Smith and Dudley-Marling and would likely soften ideological positions on all sides. Irvine also suggests structural changes in preparation programs to enhance dialogue around curriculum, field experiences, research methodology, pedagogy, and assessments, and thus to help close the divide between multicultural and special education. She recommends coteaching between special and general education faculty, inclusion of PreK-12 teachers in planning new models for teacher training, and professional development programs for teacher educators. Irvine points out that many educator preparation programs enroll too few students of color--given that 38% of students with disabilities are culturally and linguistically diverse, but only 14% of special education teachers share these students' ethnic backgrounds. …